SAN FRANCISCO-As expected, Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco today and unveiled the iPad. The tablet device is “more intimate than a laptop, and it’s so much more capable than a smartphone,” according to Jobs. What it looks like is enlarged iPhone.

And the real kicker: "We want to put this in the hands of lots of people," Jobs told the crowd. "I am thrilled to announce it starts at $499."

The devices will be available in 60 days, including in Canada.

Jobs dandled the hardcover novel sized device in his hands, looking very close to the 10 inch screen many had predicted.

“It’s very thin. You can change the home screen,” Jobs said. “What this device does is extraordinary. It’s the best browsing experience you’ve ever had.”

The device is .5 inches thick with a 9.7 inch screen. It weighs only 1.5 lbs and holds 10 hours of battery life.

It will hold either 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes of flash storage. It is wireless and Bluetooth equipped.

Functionally, Jobs used the device to scroll through photos and play music.

Critically, an on-board QWERTY keyboard pops up on screen.

“It’s a dream to type on,” Jobs said.

At that point, Jobs began scrolling through websites, extolling the system’s speed.

To demonstrate the email functions, Jobs laid the iPad on his lap and began typing with both hands. Notably, he didn’t use his thumbs.

On the all-important application side, the iPad can run apps from Apple’s store in one of two ways: You can see it at the original size in middle of the iPad and with black around it or the iPad can double the pixels to run it full screen.

Jobs showed a demo of Facebook on the iPad and ESPN's X Games Snowcross. Both looked great.

Some other app demonstrations for the iPad:

Gameloft was invited to show what they can do on the iPad. The company has more than 60 games in the App Store that have been downloaded 55 million times. Gameloft's Mark Hickey demo'd N.O.V.A., a sci-fi first-person shooter.

Next up was the New York Times iPad app. The text and images look clear and crisp and the navigation smooth. You can resize the font, flick through photos,and launch videos.

Electronic Arts was also called up. Travis Boatman came up to show Need For Speed Shift. It looked stunning, with 3-D cars screaming down the track.

Jobs then came back on stage. He said Amazon has done a great job with its Kindle readers, and "We're going to stand on their shoulders and make the experience better." The new iBooks app has a bookshelf. If want to read a book, just tap on it.

Apple has also created an iBook Store. Five of the largest publishers in the world support this and "we're going to open the floodgates, starting this afternoon."

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.